No more winter fear for Cowboys

December and January woes seem to be a thing of the past.

Updated 8:30 am, Tuesday, November 29, 2011

December and January are no longer considered to be months of misery for the Dallas Cowboys.

They posted 3-2 records in December/January the last two seasons after going 19-34 from 1997-2008. Given that the Cowboys (7-4) own a four-game winning streak and face three teams with losing records over the next five weeks, another solid finish could be in the offing.

But only if Dallas continues to improve daily no matter what happens to it, said coach Jason Garrett, whose team leads the New York Giants (6-5) by a game in the NFC East.

“You have to play through the success and play through the adversity and keep trying to get better,” Garrett told reporters Monday in Irving. “And we believe if you improve over the course of the season, week to week, you are going to be playing well when you need to be playing really well, and that's the end of the year.”

That was true of Dallas the last time it made the playoffs. In 2009, the Cowboys enjoyed a 3-0 finishing kick en route to winning the East and notching the club's first playoff win since the 1996 season.

Murray is eyeing 1,000 rushing yards despite participating in only six games as the lead back, Robinson has seven TDs in the last five games, and Bailey has made 26 straight field goals, including four game-winners.

Then there's this: The Cowboys head into December with a hard-earned reputation as a tough fourth-quarter team, fulfilling a goal Garrett set in training camp. Dallas has outscored its opponents 91-68 in the final quarter after being outscored 126-111 in the fourth last season.

“You have to be physical, and you have to execute at crunch time in all three areas to give yourself a chance to win,” Garrett said.

More Information

“That's talking to 11 guys on each side of the ball. You've got to make sure everybody's doing their jobs, and then collectively you have to have a will about you that somehow, some way you're going to figure out how to get this thing done.

“That's been on display the last couple of weeks.”

The Cowboys won back-to-back nail-biters over a five-day span last week, at Washington in overtime and in the final seconds against Miami — an impressive feat for a team that was given up for dead by many after a 27-point loss at Philadelphia five weeks ago.

Dallas plays the Giants twice down the stretch. It also faces Arizona, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, all 4-7.

“We're in the driver's seat right now,” linebacker Anthony Spencer told ESPNDallas.com. “We're going to be controlling what's going on the rest of the season. As long as we're winning games, nothing else really matters.”